Twitter users vent about Liberal hypocrisy on race issues

On Saturday, Twitter users took to the trending #IStandWithTrudeau hashtag to vent about the Liberal prime minister’s hypocrisy when it comes to racism and other issues. 

The hashtag started trending on the social media website shortly after Trudeau accused Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet of inciting hatred and intolerance after Blanchet criticized a Liberal cabinet minister’s connections to Islamic groups. 

Last week, Blanchet took aim at the minister saying that he had questions regarding his prior role heading the Canadian Arab Federation. 

“The Bloc leader refuses to accuse anyone, but questions are raised about the proximity of the new transport minister, Omar Alghabra, to the political Islamic movement that he was a leader of for many years,” said a Bloc Québécois press release.

While many of the tweets employing the hashtag were supportive of the prime minister, a significant portion of them attacked Trudeau for his own record on race.

Among those who joined in on the Trudeau pile-on was NDP MP Matthew Green, who criticized Liberals for rallying around the prime minister instead of the implicated MP Omar Alghabra. 

Take close note of the way Liberalism works to uphold the status quo by constantly defaulting to and centring whiteness.

Case in point, rallying around #IStandWithTrudeau instead of showing solidarity with the actual target @OmarAlghabra
What happened to #IStandWithAlghabra? https://t.co/45yX9IIT8p

— Matthew Green 🍊📈✊🏾 (@MatthewGreenNDP) January 16, 2021

Another popular tweet posted by the user RodneyTori, accused the prime minister of past racist and Islamophobic actions.

Re: #IStandWithTrudeau hashtag. I can't help, being someone who cares more about POLICY than performative gestures, knowing that Trudeau's ACTIONS have been racist and Islamophobic. I can't help but think of #MartinLutherKing's quote given all that liberal voters ignore. pic.twitter.com/hN1smXHVEL

— T🍊ri the Dumb Lefty Canadian Radical (@RodneyTori) January 16, 2021

Meanwhile, several accounts pointed out Trudeau’s past penchant for donning blackface.

#IStandWithTrudeau is trending again! Just your little reminder that he wore blackface from childhood through to being a teacher. He thanked the FNs from Grassy Narrows for their donation in front of wealthy Liberal donors, and thinks women just experience things differently.

— J Gillis (@notimeforyou80) January 16, 2021

How can people trust political officials with hashtags like this. He broke the law multiple times, accepted millions from corporations, and was caught wearing blackface on MANY occasions. Stop treating elected officials like celebrities and reality TV stars #IStandWithTrudeau

— mark.html (@HermizMark) January 16, 2021

Other users took the prime minister to task for his lack of action on indigenous rights and climate change.

#IStandWithTrudeau, so you stand with a man who is consistently taking Indigenous people to court, has yet to provide clean water to Indigenous communities, has yet to defund the RCMP, is supporting the Genocide in Yemen, and is forcing pipelines through Indigenous land?

— Shelby (@Lefty_Mind) January 16, 2021

#IStandWithTrudeau Means:
•You don’t stand for climate justice
•You don’t stand for indigenous rights
•You don’t stand for racial equality
•You don’t stand for corporate accountability
•You don’t stand for taxing the wealthy
•You stand for words, not action

— Lucas Bevan🌿 (@ABLucasBevan) January 16, 2021

This is not the first time that Trudeau’s actions seemed to backfire on social media. 

In June 2020, a True North exclusive report found that out of 3,000 replies to a video of Trudeau kneeling at an Ottawa Black Lives Matter rally, 69% of comments were negative reactions.